These questions may be an acquired taste. I quite enjoy interesting conversations. Hopefully, these questions can elicit a story from conversation partner.
How does trust work?
Suppose I think someone is doing something which imposes large negative externalities on other people. What should I do about that?
What do you regret? What do you not regret?
Suppose you had to (or got to, depending on your perspective) make a binding commitment to do one thing for an hour per day (e.g., âgo runningâ) â what would you commit to?
Who are you most similar to? How are you different from them?
What percentile do you/I fall in for âbeing socialâ? for âbeing happyâ, for âbeing niceâ, âconformistâ, etc. Basically, the q is, pick some interesting âcharacterâ dimensions and ask where person falls. Often elicits good stories â e.g., a âproofâ that Iâm âsuper socialâ or Fermi estimations. Good to discuss positive and negative aspects of the characteristic, whichever side of the mean it falls on.
- What is an under-cared about large societal problem? (bonus points if I donât currently know/care about it, but you convince me that I should).
- Suppose the world was about to end, or your friend was about to die. Do you have a responsibility to try to stop this?
- What are your top priorities?
- What are your thoughts on AI.
- Tell me about your name.
- Whatâs your favorite thing about yourself?
- Favorite book? Favorite character?
- Do you think people (generally, or you or I) ârise to challengesâ or âcrumple under pressureâ? / do high stakes elicit high performance?
- Whatâs your favorite piece of clothing? / favorite material possession?
- How are you similar and different to your parents?
- Whatâs something youâre worried about?
- Whatâs something good that youâve done lately â by more than 2SDâs?
- What would constitute a âperfectâ day for you?
- For what in your life do you feel most grateful?
- What is something youâre proud of yourself for?
- What in life do you get truly excited about?
- Whatâs one thing you canât live without?
- What are the chapters of your life?
- How does the way you see yourself differ from the way other people see you
- For example, are there places where other people would make really bad predictions about your actions? your preferences?
- Who is your best next-token predictor?
- Give me some good advice
- Whatâs some good advice youâve received?
- Do you have any really good systems?
- How do you avoid freaking out about scary things?
- What is fun worth?
- What are the best emotions? The worst?
- What would you do if I gave you 20 dollars and you had to spend it today?
- What do you think are some big societal problems?
- Who are some of the best people you know, in terms of:
- altruism
- health
- habits
- giving advice
- being nice to be around
- Is doing good likely to lead to happiness?
- What is a fun tradition that you have, or want to create (with yourself, or with a friend)?
- Who looks up to you?
- What is a dream youâve let go of?
- Are you lying to yourself about anything?
- What lesson took you the longest to unlearn?
- What is something you wouldnât want to change about yourself?
- What question are you trying to answer most in your life right now?
- In what areas are you currently trying to improve?
- What do you value in friendships? What are the best ways they add to your life?
- what is your identity ? are there parts of identity that youâd like to excise? new identities that you want to add?